Thanksgiving Week

We had a good weekend, Dylan has been sick with a bad cold and this morning, we all kind of woke up stuffy again, but we rested up this weekend and hopefully we will have a wonderful thanksgiving week. I actually got some stuff done outside this weekend, to get the yard, etc ready for winter, raked up leaves, put toys away, mowed one last time and mulched the leaves, etc and basically got things ready for winter. Im already excited about spring, ha ha, but for now, I know that everything is cozy and ready for the winter.
Today we have to take Aunt Vonnie to the dr, and we have done some school already this morning. I have cleaned up the kitchen, living room and dining room, and the kids are watching a movie from the library right now, while i rest up. We will get dressed here in about half an hour and head out to take aunt vonnie. I have loads of laundry to do, lol, but that will get done today too! So much! We have everything planned out for our festive december school plans, and we are excited about starting that next monday, and we are also excited about thanksgiving this week. We have soo much to be thankful for. I am just full of gratitude, I really am, and it is a good feeling.

Thursday

We have had an interesting week. Took the kids to nauvoo the other day. Long trip, good day, but dylan is sick of course from it. Unfortunately me and keith are also fighting a cold, so we are all grumpy LOL. I am excited because today I actually get to sit down with dylans medical records from hannibal clinic and write down all the infections, etc he has had and try and get stuff organized for his trip to columbia december 5th. We are praying that he will be healthy enough to get his port and start his IVIG. We will see how it goes. Im actually excited about sitting in a room with a lady staring at me so i dont "steal" anything and look at papers. how fun! But it is a start. We will get something figured out. We have to.
So today the kids are watching movies, marlee has been scrapbooking, sydney has been playing with playdoh and dylan has been sneezing, lol, and playing gameboy. The kids have also set the little car dvd player up in their room and they are watching veggietales on marlees bed! so cute.

changes

ok, so the new puppy didnt work out. roxie thought the puppy pixie was a squeaky toy. ugh, so many issues in this family, lol.
So, the owners took her back, and im going to bed. ha!

Marlee's tooth FINALLY came out....

it took a trip to the dentist, but that really really wiggly tooth, finally came out! Marlee had a great checkup also, dentist said she had perfect teeth. Thats two kids out of three so far that have perfect teeth! Sydney will go to dentist for first time in 2009!!

Here is a pic of marlee sarah at dentist!

Vacation Plans, LOL

So Marlee says to me, mom I need a tropical vacation. I said , well, what would you do on your tropical vacation. She says she would lay out and get a suntan. I think that sounds wonderful! Unfortunately, we live in missouri, it is about 35 degrees right now, and we have no money HA HA.
So, Keith told the kids, if you could have a vacation at home, what would you do?? So they got out the paper last night and pens and made a list. SOOO CUTE.
So, today, while Keith is at work, we are going to run a couple of errands that have to be ran, bank etc. and then we are going to begin, working our way down the vacation lists. We have had so much stress in our lives lately, my babies deserve a vacation!! We will still be doing some school, mainly gospel and scriptures and lots of reading as usual, and I have some books from the library on thanksgiving that are going to be fun. Here are the girls vacation lists- Dylan just wants to play gamecube, thanks again Aunt Ruth and cousin Mark!!! He loves it! It makes him happy, especially when he is sick, which unfortunately is hanging over us right now, fevers, coughing and he has had severe headache, but today seems to be doing much better, so we cross our fingers! Ok, here are the lists!
Marlee's Vacation List:
1- get a massage
2-candle lit bath
3-make paper dolls
4-get a make over
5-go to the salon
6-play volleyball with a friend
7-play on bounce around ( big blow up castle bouncy thing we have)
8-get a wagon ride
9-sleigh ride for christms ( will have to figure this one out still, lol)
10-play outside

Sydney's Vacation List
1-Take a bath with candles
2-wagon ride through the leaves
3-hold pixie
4-car ride
5-hold roxie
6-get a sleigh ride in the snow


So, you can be sure I will be taking pictures this week, as we have our "vacations" and will be posting them, because this is just to cute!!!!!!
As for the actual things, i think i can do them all except for the sleigh ride at christmas. I will have to work on that one ROFL. Maybe decorate our wagon like a sleigh and dress Keith up as santa and make roxie the reindeer pull them HA HA HA Ha- ok, i defintely am liking this picture toooo much!!!!
As for the rest, their will be pictures!!! My babies deserve a vacation!!!!
With Love,
Jaelle

Our new baby

Well, we saw an ad in the paper, need to get rid of boston terrier, 6 months old, with papers, crate, etc for 150. umm... ok, so we checked it out- and fell in love. she is soo tiny and needs to be fed! she was left in her crate almost all the time, and she is a good addition to our family. We laughed when we heard her name " Pixie", which we thought went well with our "roxie". so here is apic of our new baby. Roxie thinks she is a chew toy right now, but they are warming up to each other! Cuties!

COLD

It is freezing outside!!! Keith is working this morning, even though it is saturday, :(
and we are all snuggled inside watching tv and playing on computer. I have signed dylan
and marlee up for this online research thing ianproject.org about autism etc and im hoping that it will help researchers to find some new things out about autism!
So today I have to fill out a million forms. But that is ok, because I just want a cure. I just want to
know what the heck I can do.
Im also getting stuff ready for december- busy month, we will be hosting a cookie exchange and im hoping a little christmas card party or something and also of course getting everything decorated and ready for christmas!
Lots of service projects that we will be doing, etc too.
Well, that is about all for now. Lazy day, cold day. brrrrr......

thursday update

Well, life is busy as usual. It is early morning and the sky is gorgeous! pink!! what a beautiful thing to make me remember that god loves me. Today we will be doing school, and then i have a bunch of things to ship for my store www.fairyhousecottage.com and then we will be continuing to work on getting our house completely cleaned out. I am already excited about decorating for christmas this year. Although i ADORE thanksgiving, so I refuse to do anything for christmas until after thanksgiving. But im thinking about it, lol. Its ok to think. Just not actually do anything. I am so upset at the people who are already putting their christmas stuff outside- hello, lets please have thanksgiving! it is one of my favorites!! i have so much to be thankful for and i want that day darn it!!
I will be cleaning my entire house out this next week, and then the day after thanksgiving i will be decorating it for christmas. im then going to post pics!!
So, what else, lets see. The tutu's turned out sooo cute for the girls, dylan is still working on his hat he is making. I am working on my store, making cute baby things to sell, and of course christmas presents ( i do make the exception for christmas presents, because im making alot of them, shhhh dont tell!!) i need time. lol. What else is going on, umm..... Keith is still working hard at Keck Heating and Air in quincy. He was in Golden yesterday on a new construction and not sure where he will be today. He is getting awesome experience and we are still so shocked that he is an actual college graduate. It is crazy to think that we went through that!! Of course, our first payment on the student loans is due next month. That will shock us in to reality LOL!!!!!
Dylan was invited to a party in st louis for kids with primary immunodeficiencies ( what he has) and it is supposed to be pretty awesome, and for the whole family, but we're not sure if we are going to go or not-- it doesnt start until 7 pm and we would have to drive home from st louis late, which normally isnt a big deal, but marlee will freak. that is autism for ya. We are still thinking about it. We want dylan to have the opportunity to make friends who also go through what he does. We most likely will go. They took Marlee and Sydneys names too, so they will be getting presents from santa there too. That is pretty cool. Yep, i think we will go.
What else. Im still working hard on the lds family zoo day. It was a huge conference, but is now just a fun zoo day. www.ldsfamilyandhomeschoolconference.blogspot.com and its going well, i have lots of stuff for the goody bags, etc and im excited! it is in march next year.
I think that is about it for right now. My grandpa just finished his second round of chemo, doing pretty good that way. Just have to keep praying. Our mazda mpv that we have, is running again, thank you keith, he is so awesome to have around. We are pretty blessed.
Love, Jaelle

The Magic of a Leaf Pile

When I was a kid, we lived in a brown house in ohio. That house was magical to me. We had these HUGE yards, one in the front, by the highway, it was huge with big trees, and we didnt play in the front yard, because of the road. Then we had a huge backyard with all our play equipment, etc. The only time I ever really remember playing in the big front yard, was when the leaves fell. My dad would rake leaves. He would make the biggest leaf piles you had ever seen. HUGE!!!!! Then, with my mom taking pictures of course, my little sister and I would fly into each pile over and over and over. We would do this all afternoon one weekend in the fall. During the week we would make little leaf piles in the backyard, usually in front of the swing set so that we could jump from our swings, into the piles, but that was NOTHING compared to the big leaf piles my daddy would rake up for us.

Keith and I have tried to rake leaves each year for our kids to jump in. Unfortunately we dont have big trees in our front yard. But our neighbor does!! So this morning, even though it was cold and grey outside, I raked leaves from my neighbors yard that had blown into my yard, into a big pile, and let my kids jump!!! Dylan has been sick, so he started coughing about the third jump. By the time they each had jumped about 5 times, Dylan could hardly breathe, and we were all freezing, so we went inside. They are snuggled up in blankets right now having graham crackers and I have the front inside door open, so I can look out at our leaf pile, for just a few more minutes. What is the magic of leaf piles?? What is it that makes even me, a 27 year old mom, want to go jump in the leaves????? I am so thankful that I can be a mommy, that I can rake leaves, and let my kids jump in them. That I had the best parents as a child, who made opportunities for me and my sister to have "magic". That is what I want for my kids. I want their childhood to be magical like mine was. It is harder I think now, because first of all the world is a scarier place, and second of all, i have a sick kid and one with a disability. But I sure still try to make magic. Like for instance, today, Dylan helped me make "mummy hot dogs" for lunch. He found a recipe in a halloween magazine ( yes i know its november, lol) and he wanted to try them out. So this weekend we bought the ingredients, and today, like magic, hot dogs were turned into spooky mummys. They sure tasted good! What is it about leaf piles that makes me want my childhood back? What about hotdogs in the shape of mummys? I dont know. I guess I will live vicariously through my kids and do everything I can to make their childhood magic. Oh, and yes, I am going to wait until keith gets home tonight, and im going to rake the pile back up really big, and im going to go jump in the leaves. I recommend that every mom should go out right now, and jump in the leaves with their kids.

What my kids do to their daddy when he's sleeping...

isnt he pretty?? ROFL

Early Morning Play Time

It is 7am and my kids are awake and running !! I love early morning time. I work on the computer while they play. RIght now, the girls have the dogs big metal "play pen" ( dont know what else to call it) up in the dining room, with pillows, etc in it and they are playing doggie. Sydney is barking and is lying on a pillow and even has bowl of water. Marlee is reading her "puppy" a book. Poor Roxie our real dog, is sitting outside the pen thinking, what the heck?? LOL.
The kids did better through the night last night. The delsym really helps break up the yuckies in their chest with their croup. I recommend it to anyone. That is what our favorite pediatrician told us to use before she up and left us to move back closer to her family. mean ole dr wise LOL.
We loved her sooo much. But she was a smart cookie and we always rely on the delsym when they get croup. We just have to keep a very very close eye on dylan. So far so good, just fevers and coughing. We have to watch for him to get wheezy and asthma. He is doing ok right now.
Received a late night phone call from his dermatologist at about 8:30 pm- wanted to check on him and let us know that the results came back that his owies on his legs and ankles were defintely fungal and that the meds he is on now should help-- they are! I was so happy to tell her that it is getting better. Another thing down. Poor guy. He was so sick yesterday and today he is very tired from it. Im letting him camp out on the floor in a blanket and play gamecube.
We do have to do school today, but it will be fun, and laid back. I dont want to take to long of a break. We do so much reading etc that I dont feel to bad when we take days off for sickness.
Well, lets see, what else do i have to write about this beautiful day-- it really is already beautiful. the sun is rising so pretty and it makes me happy. Keith is home today with a vacation day. Our car parts came in yesterday so today he fixes my car-- again. lol. He bought a really nice timing kit so hopefully it will work very well. I am very blessed to have a hubby who can fix pretty much anything-- he is so talented. He has saved us sooo much money over the years with car fixups, house fixups, etc. What a blessing.
oh, this is so cute, marlee is rubbing sydneys belly-- her puppys belly i mean, lol. syd is just sucking it up, little booger!!! My kids are so cute.
I have some cute pics to upload here. One of them is a pic i took the other day, Keith fell asleep on the couch after work, and the kids were very busy. that is all i will say. LOL. I will get the pic uploaded and on here today!!!

school sick day

my poor kids have the croup. they were miserable during the night, coughing till they couldnt breathe and puking. so sad. we are taking a sick day from school
nothing much new to report here. just sick babies and a tired mommy.

school update!

My mom asked me this morning, are you even doing school with your kids?? why yes i am! I just havent written about it in awhile!
Here is some fun things we've been doing!
We are reading American Girls Kirsten books and we got a cookbook that has recipes like what she would have made, so we are going to have fun with that!
We are still doing alot on abraham lincoln, most recentely we have been working on making a handkerchief doll!
We are reading Little House on the Prairie, a long winter, and loving it.
We are doing all this plus the regular, reading, riting, and rithmatic! For science we are beginning to learn about animals, and looking forward to a trip to the zoo! For history we are still learning all about the pilgrims and indians, etc, in light of it being thanksgiving soon! For reading, Dylan is working hard in his Teach your child to read using the book of mormon workbook, and in his abeka readers! marlee is working hard on learning all the sounds that the letters make, and of course being read to constantly. She even "read" to me the other day! How fun! Sydney is so fun, she just jumps right in and does everything that dylan and marlee are doing!!
Math has been fun, dylan adores worksheets out of his workbooks. He has been working on probability, graphs, adding, subtracting, multiplication and more. The girls just got a new little m&m counting game that we will have fun with! Oh, i forgot, dylans apple that he has been observing, is really starting to get yucky! It is decomposing and he observes it every couple of days, the smell, texture, colors, etc and keeps a record of it. It is getting exciting how yucky it is getting!! We are just loving being a family and being blessed to be able to homeschool.
For gospel we are working on being thankful, and continuing to work on the living D&C 109:8
http://ldshomeschoolersrus.blogspot.com/2008/10/living-d-1098.html

Right now the kids are making pb&j sandwiches to have an outdoor picnic. We are going to eat and read from our books!!! Love everyone!

More pics from Halloween night

Dylan and Grandma Ulry

Cousin Lyndsey and The cutest spider around, Pearson

Cousin Kathy, little Dylan, Jaxon, Big Dylan, Marlee and sydney

Cousin Jamie handing out candy to dylan and marlee

Grandma ulry with her girls!

A crazy halloween!!

Dylan with his new friend at the Assisted Living Apts near our home.

Marlee making new friends!

My BEAUTIFUL Children, Marlee as Glinda the good witch,

Dylan as Clifford the Big Red Dog, and Sydney as a Fashion Model!

Snuggling Nana at Aunt Vonnies House!

Happy Halloween Aunt "bunny" ( that is what they

used to call my aunt vonnie!! Cute huh!)

Well, halloween started out interesting, the kids were not feeling well, but felt good enough to go to the jack o lantern jamboree in quincy. So we headed off and just as i was turning off the highway to pick my mom up ( she wanted to come along!) my car died. Again. Right off the highway. Dang car. I have had the worst trouble with it. I LOVE it, it is soooo cute and it is just perfect for us, seven passenger, huge sunroof, gorgeous suv, anyway, it is really having issues with timing belts, etc. So, we walked to my moms and she drove us into hannibal, we took the kids trick or treating to my aunt vonnies and then we headed home. After Keith got off work, and towed the car home, we borrowed keiths parents van and headed out. Here are the pics!